An American Cycling Odyssey, 1887

by Kevin J. Hayes

Book Overview

In 1887 a twenty-one-year-old newspaperman named George Nellis (1865-1948) rode a bicycle from Herkimer, New York, to San Francisco in seventy-two days, surpassing the transcontinental bicycle record by several weeks. He averaged fifty miles a day pedalling a fifty-two-inch, high-wheeled Columbia Expert "ordinary" bicycle with a tubular steel frame and hard rubber tires, and he lost twenty-three pounds in the process.

He bicycled ever westward...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803224087
• ISBN13: 9780803224087
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

An excellent read!

A very enjoyable and well written book about a 19th century cyclo-journalist riding across the continent. The journey was a harbinger of events such as Race Across America. The book is extraordinarily well written by a professor of English and captures the sense of adventure Mr. Nellis must have had to launch such an undertaking. Highly recommended for cyclists, fans of travel writing, and those with an interest in American history.